“They should just give me their proposals because I am worried they may lack maturity and rationale in their views.”

HOME Minister and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, on whether opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) would have a chance to contribute their views regarding potential amendments to the Internal Security Act. (Source: Only 12 ISA detainees left in Kamunting, theSun, 26 June 2009)

Hishammuddin’s comments seemed to imply that Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs are mature and rational compared with their Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and other opposition peers.

“And remember, who wanted to steal 31 MPs from us to take over the government on Sept 16 (last year)? The first attempt to grab power was by PR … we didn’t start it but when they fail[ed] (and we succeeded), they accused us of grabbing power.”

Prime Minister and BN chairperson Datuk Seri Najib Razak, justifying the BN’s controversial February 2009 takeover of the Perak government. Najib also told the PR to “dream on” regarding dissolution of the Perak state assembly to make way for snap elections in the state. (Source: “Dream on”, Najib tells Pakatan Rakyat, New Straits Times, 15 May 2009)

Najib wasn’t the only BN leader to respond to criticisms about the coup in Perak by saying, “They started it!” BN-installed Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir repeatedly used the same argument when he was asked to justify the BN’s actions in Perak that led to a constitutional crisis.

“I think this is more of a personal matter. We should not be dragged into this situation[,] so we want to just leave it as it is.”

“What [matters] most [is], the people understand that it is swine flu and not elephant flu … If H1N1 is used [by the Health Ministry], RTM will use swine flu … We have discussed this matter and internationally it is known as H1N1 but in Malaysia we will use the term ‘swine flu’. This is to ensure that the people understand the meaning.”

Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, on why public television and radio stations will continue to use “swine flu” to describe the global spread of Influenza A(H1N1) instead of adhering to an international standard. (Source: RTM will call it ‘swine flu’ — Rais, Bernama, 27 June 2009)

“We do not want the problem of these ‘little dragon ladies’ to escalate … These women are enticing local married men into having affairs with them and are causing family disharmony.”

“Where is the leak? The Batu Gajah MP (Fong Po Kuan-DAP) also leaks every month.”

The BN’s Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, in a heated exchange with opposition MPs over a roof leak in Parliament House. Bung and the BN’s Jasin MP Datuk Mohd Said Yusof later apologised to women “who might have been offended” by their words. (Source: MPs say sorry, The Star, 19 May 2007)

For those of you commenting, you should realise that the quotes are sourced — they are verbatim, and thus a legitimate angle for The Nut Graph to report on. Have PR MPs committed such verbal gaffes? Probably not to that extent or consistency.